YOU OR THE DEVIL..?WHO IS THE MASTER OF EXCUSES AGAINST PRAYER-FULLNESS.

YOU OR THE DEVIL..?WHO IS THE MASTER OF EXCUSES AGAINST PRAYER-FULLNESS.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all made excuses as to why we couldn’t accomplish this or it wasn’t the right time for that… but I’m here to tell you it’s got to stop.Excuses kill dreams. They lock you in tight to a life that eventually drains you–a life you never imagined you’d be living. They trap you–keeping you stuck in a sea of lies that never get you anywhere. Because while dreaming is great it often doesn’t propel you forward enough unless you really want them. Without the work they’re useless. With excuses… they’re useless. Excuses allow you to feel better for a moment while you put off whatever it is you’re too scared to do. They placate bad behavior and poor habits because they whisper that you’ll do them later into your ear. But here’s the thing… the time between now and then will pass anyway and you will have wasted that time. Especially because chances are you will continue to make the same excuses. You will continue to tell yourself, “Now is not the right time… later.” But if you continue to tell yourself later, when will it come?Prayer Is ImportantAs Christians, we want to maintain a strong prayer life so that we have a healthy and active relationship with God, but many of us find ourselves off course because we get so caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of his importance in our lives. Even when we are committed to prayer, we can find ourselves falling short. Here are the six biggest symptoms of prayerlessness. If you feel like your prayer life could be better, make sure you’re not coming up with these common excuses; these present greats obstacles when it comes to healthy communication with God.1. DistractionsWe live in very distracting times, so it’s very easy to get distracted from prayer. Whether it’s the text message ding, a new work message or your latest facebook alerts, all of these things take attention away from God. You may find yourself getting so caught up in what’s going on around you that you begin to forget about or hold off on prayer, telling yourself “just for now”. Then, that “just for now” becomes a daily lack of communication with God. If you find yourself super distracted, take some time to acknowledge what’s going on and what’s missing from your space. Once you put what’s missing into existence, you can then focus on raising these issues back up to God, and reestablish prayer in your life.2. Too Busy For PrayerOn top of distractions, many people make the excuse that they are just too busy with prayer because of all of the things they have going on in their lives, including family responsibilities, job responsibilities and you time. But when you begin to put this thought into existence, you have to ask yourself, where is God in all of this? If you’re too busy for prayer, you’re essentially saying you’re too busy for God. It doesn’t take too much out of us to devote at least 30 minutes to God each day, before or after our work day. This will keep you centered. If you begin to shift your focus towards prayer, you will begin to find yourself stressing less because you’re lifting those problems up to God regularly.3. Unengaged PrayerUnengaged prayer is arguably as bad as not praying at all because you’re not truly committed to God when you’re distracted. If you feel like your prayers are comfortable, simple, or only being lifted when you need something, you need to start looking at what’s missing for you spiritually. Why aren’t you committed to being honest in your relationship with God and why does prayer only show up when you want something to happen. Prayer isn’t just a request hotline. It’s a space for heart-to-hearts with God.4. Refusing to Accept God’s Help (or Answer)Refusing to accept God’s help is a huge symptom of prayerlessness. When you’re falling off course with God, He will try to communicate with you, but sometimes we are so afraid of what God is trying to tell us that we refuse to listen or accept His help. Remember, prayer is not about informing God of our needs or concerns. He knows what we need before we even ask. We are going to God in prayer for strength, encouragement and wisdom, showing our reliance and trust in how He is already working in our lives.5. Faking ItIf your prayer life is out of tune with the life you’re living, this has red flag written all over it. If you say that you trust God, and then you find yourself stressing about every little thing in your day-to-day, you’re not being honest in your relationship with God, and not truly letting go and letting Him. You have to live a life in line with the prayers you lift up. If we don’t, we’re being inauthentic.